Netanyahu: Hostage-taking could be imminent
Protests begin ahead of Netanyahu’s speech to Congress
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with relatives of hostages in Washington DC and will speak to Congress.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the US families of hostages held in Gaza that an agreement to release their hostages was imminent, citing pressure from the Israeli military on Hamas, his office said on Tuesday.
Netanyahu met on Monday with the families and some relatives of the hostages who accompanied him on his trip from Israel as protests against him brewed. A violent protest rally that led to arrests took place near the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
“The conditions for their return are becoming increasingly ripe for the simple reason that we are putting very strong pressure on Hamas,” Netanyahu told the families, according to information from his office. “We are seeing a certain change, and I think this change will intensify.”
President Joe Biden will meet with the families of the American hostages at the White House later this week, Reuters and other media reported, citing a U.S. official. It would be Biden’s second such meeting since Hamas attacked Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages.
Netanyahu, who is scheduled to address Congress on Wednesday, will also meet with Biden and Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris on Thursday.
Developments:
∎ After some scheduling considerations, former President Donald Trump said in an online post that he would meet with Netanyahu on Friday. According to the Times of Israel, the meeting will take place at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
∎ Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland, chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will preside over Netanyahu’s speech, Senate sources told Reuters. Harris, who would normally preside in her capacity as Senate president, will not be in Washington.
∎ The threat to international shipping from Yemen’s Houthi rebels is increasing, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council on Tuesday. The Iranian-backed militants have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and surrounding areas since November, claiming the attacks are an act of solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Deal nearby? Netanyahu said Israel would send a team to negotiate the release of the hostages
Thousands of demonstrators are expected to gather on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to protest against Netanyahu and the Gaza war.
Seven unions with a total of several million members sent a letter to the White House on Tuesday calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to arms sales to Israel. Among the signatories was the United Auto Workers union, based in Michigan, which has the largest percentage and second-largest number of Arab Americans in the country.
In addition, several aid groups and other organizations have joined forces to set up a mobile billboard that will travel through Washington on Wednesday bearing the message: “No more bombs for Netanyahu.” Abby Maxman, US director of the British anti-poverty organization Oxfam, called Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress “completely inappropriate.”
“His coalition government continues to bomb Gaza, international condemnation is growing, Israelis are demanding the hostages be brought home, and under his leadership the Israeli military is bombing aid workers, schools and hospitals,” Maxman said in a statement.
Perhaps as a foretaste of what awaits us on Wednesday, several hundred members of the group Jewish Voice for Peace protested against the war and called for a ceasefire in red T-shirts in the rotunda of the Cannon House office building near the Capitol on Tuesday.
Protesters carried large signs with messages such as “Jews to Congress: Stop arming Israel” and “Let Gaza live” as they sat in a circle, clapping and chanting.
Video footage showed some of the protesters being arrested by police. Capitol Police confirmed this in a post on Platform X, which said: “Demonstrations are not allowed in the buildings of Congress. We told people who entered legally to stop or they would be arrested. They did not stop, so we are arresting them.”
The office of Representative Dan Kildee (D-Michigan) said in a statement that Capitol Police were called after protesters “became disruptive, violently banging on the office doors, shouting loudly, and attempting to force their way into the office.” The incident was soon ended, Kildee’s office said.
Palestinian factions led by Hamas and its long-time political rival Fatah have signed a national unity agreement designed to maintain Palestinian control over Gaza after the war. The final details for an “interim government of national reconciliation” were worked out in Beijing on Tuesday. More than a dozen groups have signed the plan.
Fatah is the Palestinian Authority, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, which administers the West Bank under Israeli occupation. Hamas has ruled Gaza for almost two decades.
The Biden administration wants a new government for Gaza and rejects the idea that Hamas could play a role as long as the militant group does not recognize Israel. Israel, which has repeatedly promised to crush Hamas, immediately criticized the agreement.
“Instead of rejecting terrorism, Mahmoud Abbas embraces the murderers and rapists of Hamas and reveals his true face,” Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on social media.
Israel said it had deployed tanks and fighter jets to combat the regrouping of Hamas militias in the Khan Younis region of the southern Gaza Strip. The announcement came hours after Gaza’s Health Ministry said 70 Palestinians had been killed and more than 200 wounded by Israeli fire on the city. Israel first targeted the city more than six months ago and claimed in the spring that it had taken full control of the city. Israel had previously returned to Gaza City and other areas it had captured because of apparent resumption of militant activity there.
Despite these setbacks, Israel’s top security chiefs agreed that the Israeli military could leave Gaza for the required six weeks without losing control of the enclave, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported, if a ceasefire and an agreement on hostages to replace prisoners were reached with Hamas.
Contributors: Reuters
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